Just like other ATN scopes on this list, the X-Sight 4K Pro Smart Rifle Scope is no exception to the company’s overall quality. It is an excellent day-time scope and a fairly decent night vision one, although it won’t help you much if you are trying to go for a 500 yard shot in pitch black conditions. Still, in this price range, it is hard to match the level of detail ATN put into their products, as well as the abundance of additional accessories they provide you with.
Jack’s Verdict:
The X-Sight Pro Rifle Scope comes in two variations in terms of magnification – 3-14x and 5-20x. Both present a good price-to-value ratio but if you want to go for the budget option, the 3-14x with the wider field of view is the proper choice. The IR850 infrared illuminator you get with the scope does a decent job at pitch-black conditions and at distances below 150 yards. If you want to go beyond that you will have to upgrade that part of the scope. Everything else from the image resolution, display quality, menus, to the additional features is of typical ATN quality and has little to no competition in this particular price bracket.
Features
The first things I want to mention are some of the scope optics properties. Then I will move on to the digital side of things and explain the different modes, menus, and options inside the scope interface.
Magnification & Lenses
The first thing that I have to clarify is that there are two options when you are picking your ATN X-Sight:
- A 3-14x magnification with 9 degrees field of view (460ft)
- A 5-20x magnification model with 5 degrees field of view (240ft)
The 5-20x model is obviously going to cost you more but it is a hundred bucks more which isn’t a big difference if you ask me. The deciding factor should be the field of view of both models. If you are primarily hunting in the lower ranges, then get the one with the bigger field of view. If you are a long-range hunter then get the version with more magnification and a narrower field of view.
Both scopes have HD lenses and are of the same size (50mm). Apart from those differences, there are no other ones.
One thing that I absolutely love about this scope is that is has a 90mm eye relief (3.5 inches). This is one of the longest eye relief distances I’ve seen on a night vision scope, and that allows the X-Sight to be put on more powerful rifles than its competition. If it’s too bright outside, you can put the additional rubber eyecup which will help you see the inside screen easier.
The scope comes with a variety of reticle types which can all be color-adjusted to your personal preferences. They are all duplex reticles, though, with no option for mil-dot or other types.
Sensor Technology
The sensor here is an ATN M265 Ultra HD 4K sensor with a 3864×2218 resolution. That 4K sensor is paired with an ATN Obsidian IV Dual Core processor which allows for a system resolution of 600 lp/mm.
The colors of this sensor are bright and vivid, and day time recordings are great even at higher magnification. The same cannot be said about the recordings in pitch black conditions but that is fairly normal in this price range. They aren’t terrible but they can’t compare to the ones made from the more expensive thermal scopes.
The sensor can record 1080p videos at 30, 60, and 120fps. The 120fps video is great since few other scopes are capable of that recording speed but unfortunately, it is only available in your day time mode.
Display
The display on this scope is pure ATN quality and is very crisp. You can adjust the gamma, brightness, and contrast. The resolution of the display is HD at 1280×720 although I wished they put the full HD display in here, as they had done in the more expensive ATN scopes.
Still, this display shines in comparison to a more budget model such as the Sightmark Photon RT Scope, which has a 640×480 resolution LCD display.
On that display, you have a number of items listed. In fact, ATN scopes have always had a very well laid out displays in terms of information positioning. You have the classic layout here with the windage and elevation information on both sides. The ballistic calculator is at your bottom left, the wind speed and direction, as well as the time, are in the bottom right corner. In the top part of the screen, you got your distance to the target and recording information on the left and the connectivity HUD on the right, along with the magnification.
Construction & Durability
In terms of construction, this scope brings a familiar ATN quality to the table yet again. It is made out of thermoplastics which makes it rigid and fairly lightweight. The lower magnification model weighs 2.1 pounds while the 5-20x specification weighs 2.2 pounds. That is extremely light for a night vision scope and ideal for hunters that don’t like too much weight on top of their rifles.
The body of the scope is sealed shut and is fully weather-resistant, which includes water and dustproof ratings. The operating temperatures are impressive as well. In fact, the ATN X-Sight is the scope that can operate at the lowest temperature out of all the best night vision scopes I’ve reviewed. It can work at -20 degrees Fahrenheit and up to +120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Perhaps the only thing that will limit the scope’s performance at very high or low temperatures is the way the battery will be affected. Li-ion batteries have a temperature range in which they can discharge in the most optimal way
Even if something happens to any of your scope’s components you will be getting a full coverage 2-year warranty from ATN with it.
The “One-Shot Zero” Feature
Zeroing the ATN X-Sight is a pretty straight forward process and I find it to be the easiest of most other scopes in this price range. You have to do one initial shot and see where it hits your target. Once you have a bullet hole, keep your reticle at the center of the target and move the second smaller correction reticle over to the place of the first bullet hole. The scope will automatically take the bullet hit coordinates into account and adjust the following shots.
One issue I have with this system is that some defective models need resetting and re-zeroing after you’ve kept the scope in off mode for a period of time or have restarted it. It can also happen after software/firmware updates. In other words, it is very easy to zero but you will most likely have to do it more often than you’d want to.
Night Time Vs. Day Time Modes
During the day, this scope is rather good. It has a lifelike image at the lower magnifications, although colors do get a little distorted once you start zooming in. You can easily see and identify targets at more than 600 yards away if the conditions are good. If you get the 5-20x magnification model, you will be able to hit targets at 1000 yards with a little bit of practice. The lower magnification model, though, is more suitable for 100-300 yard shots.
At night, things are a little bit different. The 4K sensor really does a good job of getting the contrast of the picture right but it struggles when you start zooming in. This is where the difference between these sensors and the thermal ones is felt the most. True night vision experience at distances over a few hundred yards can only be delivered by a quality thermal sensor, and those cost a lot of money. It is hard to find a cheap thermal scope and is even harder to find a regular night vision one that can work at distances above 300 yards. The middle ground is currently empty and I predict that the first company that does a sub-1000 dollar scope that has an identification range of around 600 yards will strike gold.
The provided IR850 Infrared Illuminator is good enough and can easily help you pick up targets of up to 150 yards. Still, if you want to go beyond that range, you will have to get a more powerful model. With an upgraded illuminator, 300-yard shots will be possible even in pitch black conditions. The detection range is slightly longer, but since this isn’t a thermal scope you will struggle identification until the target is within your normal reach.
One important thing to remember with the infrared illuminator is that it basically works as a flashlight. If there is any dust or humidity in the air it will reflect the infrared light back to the scope and you will have limited visibility and night vision range.
Included Accessories
The list of included accessories with this scope is truly impressive. Not only it is a great bargain as it is but with those additional items added it becomes a very hard deal to resist when you are cross-shopping. Those accessories are:
- A rubber eyecup
- Sunshade
- 2x Standard scope rings
- An L-shape ring
- A ring with Picatinny rail
- The ATN IR850 Infrared illuminator
- USB Type-C cable for charging and data transfer
- Scope cover
- Lens cloth
The availability of ring types you get makes sure that you will be able to put your new X-Sight scope on any type of rifle without having to invest in additional accessories.
Apart from those accessories, ATN offers you a few others that can be purchased and will make your night out even easier. Some of those are the ATN quick detach mount, the ABL Laser Range Finder, the ATN 20 000 mAh battery pack, and the X-Trac remove control. I find the battery pack and the laser range finder especially handy since they will improve the ballistic performance of the scope and allow it to last longer than just one night if you are Wi-Fi streaming and/or recording.
Ballistic Calculator
Within the ballistic calculator, you have a ton of customization options. It takes a variety of things into account such as all the environmental aspects like humidity, wind speed and direction, temperature, pressure, and current altitude.
On top of that, you can enter information about your rifle and cartridge that will further help the calculator give you its most exact estimates.
The ATN Auxiliary Ballistic Laser 1000 really helps you pick up targets of up to 1000 yards, although it costs quite a lot for an extra accessory. Still, it is one of the best add-on laser rangefinders out there and is worth the money if you are into long-distance shooting. It is optimized to work perfectly with your ballistic calculator and once you pair your X-Sight to the Laser rangefinder it really enhances the ballistic properties of the scope.
Click here to learn how to hunt coyotes at night with your night vision scope!
Additional Features
Some of the additional features this scope includes are:
- Bluetooth 4.1
- 3D Gyroscope
- 3D Accelerometer
- E-Barometer
- Range Finder
- Compass
- Smooth zoom function
- Wi-Fi streaming to both iOS and Android
As with all other ATN scopes, this one also has the recoil-activated video function which records a video cut that starts 10 seconds before the shot and ends automatically 10 seconds or sooner if you stop it manually.
One thing that really impressed me is the so-called “dual-stream mode”. Previous ATN scopes didn’t have this feature and that made people demand it. Fast forward 1 year and now you can simultaneously stream in HD resolution and record straight on the scope’s SD card.
Battery
The most important aspect of a night vision scope is battery life. This is a point of pride for ATN as they’ve managed for the first time to get an 18 hour of continuous battery life from a Li-ion battery in a scope. That is thanks to the new energy-efficient processor that also rarely overheats the body of the scope.
If that isn’t enough you can get their ATN power weapon kit which includes a buttstock pouch for your rifle and a 20,000 mAh battery pack inside. When plugged into your battery it can pretty much give you a few more days of usage making it perfect for people that go on week-long hunts.
ATN X-Sight Vs. Bering Optics D-730 2nd Gen
There are several big advantages that the Bering Optics D-730 has over the ATN X-Sight. Firstly, it presents a far more “scope-like” experience thanks to its windage and elevation adjustment turrets. Secondly, it has a much bigger objective lens that helps the sensor perform better in pitch black conditions. It handles bright light very well and the green image is superior to almost any other in its price point. However, the ATN scope gives a similar amount of adjustability (although digitally) and have a slightly worse night vision performance over the D-730 but all that comes at a price more than 4 times cheaper. Find out more about the different night vision generations here.
On top of that, when it comes to day-time performance the ATN scope blows the Bering Optics one out of the water with its 4K sensor and HD video recording at 120 fps. Still, for a more professional approach and a much more rigid construction, you should opt for the Bering Optics scope. If you want to have a decent day and night experience on a budget, then the ATN presents itself as a more favorable option.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Pros
- Very lightweight
- Excellent day-time performance
- Built-in ballistic calculator
- Rangefinder works well
- Good price-to-value ratio
- It can stream and record simultaneously
- Best-in-class battery life
- You get a lot of accessories
- 2-Years warranty
- Weatherproof
Cons
- The interface is full of features and options and can be hard to get used to
- The night vision mode isn’t ideal for long-range shots in pitch black conditions
- The zeroing function can sometimes read the coordinates wrong after you shut down the scope and restart it
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times can you charge the battery on the ATN X-Sight 4k PRO?
The battery on this scope is pretty good and long-lasting on a single charge. Users have reported more than 200 lifetime charges without a significant drop in performance.
How long does it take to charge the battery?
With a normal 2-Amp USB cable, it takes roughly 40-60 minutes to fully charge a dead battery. With a higher-Amp USB cable, you can fully charge the battery in around half an hour.
Does the ATN X-Sight Pro come with an illuminator?
Yes, with this scope you are also getting the ATN IR850 Infrared illuminator as an included accessory. While you can always upgrade to a stronger illuminator, this one does the job most of the time.
Conclusion & Rating
Jack’s Rating:
The ATN X-Sight 4K Pro Smart Day and Night Rifle Scope is one of my favorite night vision scopes out there for a couple of reasons. First, it offers you a great many accessories with your purchase. Second, it has one of the best image sensors on the market currently and can record and stream at the same time. All that is packed in a very durable yet lightweight construction that is backed up by a two-year full warranty. As a whole, it might feel a little expensive at first, especially when there are much cheaper options but if you really want to do quality day time and good night time shooting videos, this is a good way to go.
